Lav's Music Corner

Rap is one of those genres where I'll never be able to keep up with all the relevant releases. I do my best and there are still way more than just these 5 records that slipped through the cracks, so let's try and catch up.  The Thief Next To Jesus  - Ka This one hurts. I wanted to cover this record but it came out in a busy week and slipped past me when I took vacation but I certainly would have prioritized it if I could go back in time in the wake of the news of Ka's tragic death. Through that lens it's worth looking at this record with a closer gaze than what I'm able to here. In fact, it's probably worth pouring over his entire excellent discography to pull out highlights. His finale album The Thief Next To Jesus  is fittingly soaked in Christian themes, something he's indulged in before on records like 2020's Descendents Of Cain . But in particular on this record through both his own lyrics and several perfectly selected samples, he examines the hist...

Time for a good old EP review. Aside from Clarence Clarity there hasn't been a ton of great EPs coming out recently but some artists I really enjoy have put their names beside short form projects and I'm excited to break them down.  Intimidated EP - Kaytranada I love Kaytranada. His debut album is still a major highlight of electronica in the 2010's and I'm planning on talking about the follow up in a video at some point in the next few weeks. Even some of the one off singles and collaborations he's dropped in the past two years have really connected with me so I was really excited to jump into this EP which features H.E.R, Thundercat and Mach-Hommy of all people. The first track is a warm blend of R&B and house that is easy on the ears, thought I can't help but wish a more capable vocalist than H.E.R was handling the song but that's a mostly minor issue. The next track is a big improvement starting with a killer instrumental that hangs all kinds of spac...

Mach-Hommy is one of the most notable voices in the world of underground hip hop, having prolifically dropped projects for years while maintaining his distinctive lyrically dynamic sound. On Pray For Haiti  Mach-Hommy is re-uniting with Griselda records and more specifically Westside Gunn who executive produced the project and makes numerous appearances on it.   Review By Lav: Mach-Hommy is one of those voices that you can't really talk about underground rap over the past few years without getting into. While I haven't commented on all of his numerous projects leading up even to earlier this year, I've mentioned him frequently for his features on other records from the likes of Earl Sweatshirt, Your Old Droog and more. This record saw Mach-Hommy linking up once again with the Griselda records crew, but since the last time they collaborated, Griselda as a brand has grown massively in recognition and status in the hip hop world. As a result this was one of the most talked a...

Your Old Droog is a Brooklyn based Ukrainian American rapper who first emerged around the middle of the last decade drawing comparisons to Nas with many even believing he could be Nas rapping under a pseudonym. Since then he has released 6 records highlighted by 2017's critically acclaimed Packs . Droog released 3 full studio albums of material in 2019 alone and quickly turned around to release Dump YOD  which appears to address his Ukrainian history.  Review By Lav: I've been a pretty big fan of Droog since first hearing Packs  in 2017 and last year his Transportation  album proved to be a favorite of mine even though I didn't have time to review his third album of 2019 Jewels  before the year was out. Droog once again dropped a December album and I wasn't gonna let it get by me again, especially given that Dump  seems like Droogs most personal and conceptual record yet. As it turns out that concept extends much more to the instrumentals of the record than...